Bad weather happens everywhere. Look at the tornadoes across Arkansas and Mississippi this week. Look at the historic flooding in Pensacola.

Some people were unfortunately caught unaware and some were prepared. Sometimes the best laid plans can’t always protect you.

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According to one report I read, one woman went into her basement as a tornado approached, the walls collapsed and she died. Tornadoes wiped houses off slabs. It’s hard to survive something like that.

My best advice is to simply be aware and pay attention to the weather. It can be your best friend, giving you sunshine, blue skies and a great day to be outside, and it can also turn on you and become a fatal incident. If you are aware, you can work to find the signs so that you can take precautions that may save lives.

A towering cumulus in the morning can become a severe thunderstorm in the afternoon.

Pensacola was running above average for rainfall before the month of April. Rainfall was 6.97 inches above normal for February and March. Add in the rainfall in April, and Pensacola has had 42.27 inches of rain. That’s 27.2 inches above average.

The rain event of April 29-30 was well advertised. We knew it was going to rain, we knew there was the risk for severe storms and we knew heavy rain was likely. Watches were posted by the National Weather Service.

If you don't heavily pay attention to the news and weather reports, there can still be clues to inform you that things are getting bad.

If it rains all day, and then there is very heavy rain, it’s going to flood.

In Pensacola, there was actually 5.68 inches of rain in one hour. That is a 1-in-500-year one-hour amount.

I would not advise going out in a situation like that.

Complicating the matter was an onshore flow and high tide. The water was being pushed onshore and the rainwater could not drain. There was a stalled front to the west, and the rain kept training across the same area. The ground was saturated. Flowing water ate away at the roadways and bridges, collapsing some.

Driving at night in that kind of weather can be deadly. You can't see how deep the water is, and you can not see if the roadways are washed out or where the road ends and the ditches begin. One foot of water is all it can take to wash your vehicle away.

If you see a weather situation like that evolving, ask these questions: Am I in a safe place? Where is my car? Do I need to move to higher ground?

If the water is rising too quickly, forget about the car and just move yourself to higher ground. Go to a second floor, go to a safer building -- but do it safely. Be aware that power lines could be down and water conducts electricity.

Unfortunately some people simply got stuck. They were driving from one place to another, and all of a sudden the water got too high and the traffic came to a standstill and the water simply kept rising.

How do you avoid that?

Check the forecast before you drive. For that matter, check the forecast before you do anything -- fishing, boating or swimming. My daughter wrote a paper once, complaining that she was the only person in her class who had to check the radar before she was allowed to do anything. She didn't take my advice in one instance and was caught in the middle of a tornado outbreak. She was fortunate, and now checks the radar daily.

The truth is, if heavy rain and storms are forecast, save the road trip for another day and arrive safely. Your life is just too important.

My advice is to always have a NOAA Weather radio powered on and ready to alert you. I am a big believer in Twitter. You never ever have to send a tweet, you just need to follow what is important -- like @wdsu and myself, @margaretorr. You can get alerts instantly when severe weather is happening on social media. You can get information on flooding developing and you will never be caught unaware.

Most of the time the weather is great, but as we all know it can turn really bad. Just be aware, so that you can make wise decisions for you and your family.